From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

We have enjoyed some fantastic weather and fishing as February arrived with sunny skies and light winds on most of our days on the water. It is a welcome change from January conditions. Water temperatures have warmed up nicely to the low to mid 70's and the fish have been hungry! We are beginning our transition into Spring conditions. Even though we will get our weekly cold fronts moving through the Treasure Coast, you can expect them to become milder as each week passes by. It's a wonderful time of year to enjoy the outdoors!

The variety of fish in the river continues to keep our clients smiling and rods bending. The bluefish and pompano are around the river now along with all the other wintertime favorites. Bluefish will hit anything shiny and pompano with take live shrimp, sand fleas or Doc's Goofy Jigs. 

The sheepshead and black drum bite has been excellent around the bridges, channel edges and docks of the river. Live or dead shrimp on a small hook or jig head will work best. There are lots of 15" mutton snapper around the turning basin. Fun to catch for the little ones, but just shy of keeper size. Jacks and ladyfish are everywhere right now. Again, the little anglers will love catching them. It's a fun time of year to take the kids fishing.

We are still getting some nice redfish around the mangroves and docks of the river. Expect a lot of shorts, but those will be in the upper slot by the end of summer. CAL paddle tails (411 color) on a 1/16th oz. jig head is my favorite go-to lure in winter for redfish. Fish can be skittish with the clear waters of winter and this won't scare them. The trout bite picked up again this week with the warmer weather. I rely on the CAL 4" jerk bait (407 color) on the same 1/16th oz. jig head to catch some nice trout this time of year. You can also have very good success with DOA shrimp or Deadly Combos this month. Snook fishing around the inlet docks and jetties has been good on the higher ends of the tide for anglers using DOA Terror Eyz and live baits. I love the variety of fish that you can catch during the winter months. The surf has been good for whiting, bluefish and some pompano for beach anglers. Most anglers are using live or dead shrimp, but silver spoons, Doc's Goofy Jigs and CAL shad tails can get you some good action as well.

From Whites Tackle - Ft Pierce / Stuart

The spanish and flounder have been around the jetty with a few pompano mixed in on the incoming tide.Inshore the trout fishing has been steady around Bear point to midway road. The snook fishing has been good around the bridges and in the inlet on both live bait and jigs.

From Henry @ Snook-Nook - Jensen Beach

 Sunny and eighty degrees, a little wind from the south east, south Florida I love this place.

                                               photo courtesy of Jayson Arman 

Surf anglers it is a beautiful day but the Pompano are not cooperating , lots of small fish, some anglers have caught ten and not one in the limit.  Well  we know the Pompano are here so where are the big fish?  Pompano are a school fish and they run in about the same size, very seldom will you find a larger fish in the school or very seldom will find a small fish in a school of large but where there is one you will find the other.  We would all like to say a longer cast will find the one you are looking for but some times the fish you are looking for could be on the short side.  If you are in a school of small fish try casting your bait beyond or just a short cast and let your bait set for a few moments that could be your answer.  Still waiting for some Blue fish reports but the small Pomp's seem to be holding the attention. Cut bait for the Blues fish them early, excellent table fare, three to five pounds perfect table size.  I have heard about them at many beach access points,  in the mix is Mac’s and Jacks plenty of rod pullers, locate them with a piece of meat then you can cast a spoon.   Still plenty of Whiting and Croaker so you might say dinner is sure catch.

          

           Trout are deep, anglers reporting fish in channels and deep water, not a lot but fish.  Most said a lot of effort to find and put one in the boat, hard when you can see areas around you with activity.  Slot Reds in schools, when one is on  the rest scatter, so where did they go, direction. Pay attention you know it will happen so watch the school, then you know where to drift, soft rubber baits were on the list.  Blues and Jacks provided most of the action this week, they don’t care when one is on the rest will come to see what he is eating, not sure about this group.  Pompano made a show a the bridges today early afternoon, high tide on the jigging spoons, five seemed to be the catch limit.  Then Snook season opened on the first, no fan fare.  Did not see many anglers but those that did go using a flair hawk found fish, five for six seemed to be the number and you guess it all short, well a least we know they are there, water has to warm a bit but I know they are there. 

From Capt. Charlie @ Fishing Center - Ft Pierce

                                                                                    photo courtesy of Rocky E. M. Fikki

While winter is still around the Treasure Coast and weekly cold fronts will continue to bring cool nights and lots of windy days to the area, fishing will still be good out on the water. It has been a tough winter so far with all the rain, winds and cold. Water temperatures can dictate where and how you might fish on any given day this month. The temps ranged in the 60’s and low 70’s in January this year. When the water is cold, fish the deeper cuts and drop offs of the river. Sunny days will bring fish up in shallower waters to feed and the bite can really get hot out on the flats.

                                                               photo courtesy of Balls Deep Fishing Team

The trout bite picks up very nicely in February. 2013 proved to be the year of big trout in the Fort Pierce area. I anticipate that 2014 will be another big fish year around the area. CAL jerk baits and Deadly Combos are exciting ways to trout fish with artificial lures, while live shrimp on popping corks are the ol’ standard way to trout fish out on the river. Redfish can be found in shallow flats around mangroves and islands. We had a fantastic winter bite in 2013 around the docks and mangroves for redfish. On warm sunny days, the reds will sit around the mangroves and soak up the sun. Finding some along the mangroves will bring some good rod bending action to anglers this month. DOA shrimp and CAL jerk baits can find some hungry reds hugging the mangrove lines when fished very slowly. Docks are a great way to find plenty of fish waiting for something tasty to drift under them.

Sheephead will be plentiful around the river and the larger fish will be coming into the river to breed. They showed up early this year and January has been a great month for them. Live or dead shrimp around bridges, docks and structure can provide lots of action in addition to some great tasting fish. Sand perch and croakers should also be hanging around the inlet and bridges during February. Pompano around the surf and on the deeper flats of the river can be taken on CAL grub tails, Doc’s Goofy Jigs and shrimp or clams. Bluefish, mackerel and jacks will continue to haunt the baitfish around the jetties and turning basin. Small, shiny lures will keep you busy. There should be some flounder around the back sides of the jetties and on sand flats around the inlet area.

February is a transition month on the river. Winter has been challenging this year on the Treasure Coast. We have enjoyed more normal winter weather and the fish bite has been good for us. Winds will still be blowing and the water will begin to gradually rise in temperature. Fishing your lures slowly will certainly give you more action on the river. Fish tend to be sluggish in the colder water. Working your lures or bait slower along the bottom will give the fish more time to react to it and will result in more bites for anglers. Have fun this month and get out fishing!

From Todd @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

INSHORE- Snook season opened February 1st, and that will no doubt be the main game in town on the inshore fishing side of things.  Fishing deeper bridges with good current flow is a good starting point for bagging a slot size snook.  During the day look for snook to be hanging out on shallow flats with a dark bottom, or in areas that are getting a lot of sunshine.  Live shrimp, or good shrimp imitations like the DOA Shrimp, are a great bait choice for snook this time of year.

Surf/Pier- Surf fishing remains a bit off for the season, but a mixed bag of fish are being caught by those putting the time in.  Bluefish, spanish mackerel, jacks, and spinner sharks are scattered up and down the beach.  Tossing a large silver spoon or big popping plug is a good way to find them.  Pompano are still not here n big numbers.  If pompano is the desired species...head nor

From Todd / Eric @ Juno Bait -Juno Beach

Catch 365

"Eyes on Top"
The way a snook's, and other top apex predators, eyes are positioned always has them looking up. Pay attention to where they are positioned in the water column and present your baits or lures accordingly.

If the snook are laid up in a shadow line a foot or two below the surface, try to keep the baits floating right over their heads. If they are stuck tight to the bottom; try to get the bait down just above them. Try to keep the baits moving just over their heads for the best luck.

"Never Stop Learning"One more this week from Eric of the The Freight Train Fishing Charters. Not every fishing trip is going to be one filled with banner catches; but that's ok! Make it a point to try and learn something from every trip. Logging that info in a logbook (Angler Action Program is an awesome one to use) and using even the smallest trivial things from previous trips can pay big dividends on future trips. Case in point...this picture. This nice cobia ate the most random of baits on a fairly tough fishing trip. And guess what, now I have a new bait to put out and try when the bite is tough and the standard things aren't working. — with Eric Gates.

From Whites Tackle - Ft Pierce / Stuart

Snook season is open and there has been an okay bite in the inlet and around the bridges at night using feather jigs and lipped plugs at night.  There are also a few Pompano and Flounder amongst the many Spanish Mackeral being caught in the inlet as well. Trout fishing was decent to the north on the east side of the river.